Incubator heater



April 28, 1925.

L. A. BROWN INCUBATOR HEATER Filed June 1s, 1924 2 sheets-sheet aPatented Apr. 28, 1925.

UNITED STATESv PATENT OFFICE@ LUCIS A. BROWN, OF CLAY CENTER, NEBRASKA,ASSIGNOR TO THE M. M. JOHNSON COMPANY,` OF CLAY CENTER, NEBRASKA. i i

iNCUBATon HEATER.

Application med June 1a, 1924. seriai no.l razonar/4 T0 all 'whom z' mayconcern:

Beit known that I, LUorUs A. BROWN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Clay Center, in the county of Clay and State of Nebraska,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Incubator Heaters,of which the following is a specification.

This invention has vto do with incubator construction and involvesprimarily improvenients in heaters such as are usually employed forindividual incubation apparatus, and involving ordinarily a heating'tank through which heated water is circulated,

together with controlling means for main-` taining the temperature .inthe incubator substantially uniform.

In the carrying out ofA my .invention I have designed a water heatingtank and circulating pipes connected therewith with a special view toobtaining increased efficiency of the heating apparatus, as comparedwith present designs of such apparatus. I have had especially in mindtheconstruction of my heating means in such a way as to obtainacomparatively simple arrangement of the circulating pipes and a simpleand substantial formation of the tank, together with correspondinglysimplified valve or damper apparatus by which the passage of the heatfrom a lamp or similar heater through the heating pipe of theV watertank may be quickly regulated, the damper being readily responsive tothe thermostatic ac-` tion of the usual thermostat in the incubator.

With the kforegoing in view my invention also has for its object to'`provide other de tail features of construction conducive to ease andcheapness of manufacture of the heating apparatus, all of which will bemore fully understood upon reference to the detailed description foundhereinafter, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings: in which, jl

Figure 1 is a side view of an incubator showing the preferredconstruction of Imy invention, the side wall of the incubator beingbroken away to show the arrangement of the circulating pipe and` tank,and the tank being also broken away and shown in section to illustratethe warm air pipe which passes therethrough somewhat 1noredistinctly.Likewise, the outer end of the'tlank is brokeny away aswell as the sideof the heating chamber to show the valve or damper arrangement morefully.

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional View through the incubator, showingvarious parts that require illustration, as for instance; thecirculating pipes, tank, warm air pipe and thermostatic controlconnections. Figure 3 is a fragmentary front view of the incubatorbringing out somewhat more clearly the arrangement of the lamp or burnerwhich supplies the heat to the heating chamber from which the heatpasses tov the warm air flue or pipe of the tank.

Figure 4@ is a fragmentary erspective view of an end portion of the tanat which the entrance to the warm ai'rpi'pe is pro# vided. i, l

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectionallview showing `more clearly the.arrangement of thel damper or valve and manner of supplying the heatfrom the burner or lamp to the water tank. f

Figure 6 is a detailv perspective view of the damper andcounterbalancing"weight therefor.

Specifically describing the invention and referring particularly4 to thevarious views vof the drawings, I have designated the incubator box orbody at A, the same being equipped with a sliding shelf B, onwhich` theburner ofllamp C, by which the heat is supplied to the incubator, issupported.'

, In` all general `ways'the incubator construction .may be said tobeconventional, and the same may beof wood, metal or the like, as thisphase of the construction is iminaterial to the invention. Extendinghorizontally across the inner chamber lof `the incubator near the topthereof is mounted my heating apparatus, by `which thetem'-peraturewithin the incubator is controlled. This` apparatus includesAprimarily the water tank 2 in the form of` a longrectangu'- larreservoir which projects aty thefront' vend ofthe incubator quite alittle distance from the front wall as shown at 2a. The outer end of theprojecting portion 2a ofthe tank 2 is provided with anQinclined closingwall v3,v said wall slanting 4downwardly` vandfind wardly toward theincubator andbeing prof vided with a central opening 4, see. Figure t.The said opening'a is provided .as an entrance to the horizontal"warmvairpipe or flue 5 which `extends longitudinally and cenf trally throughthe body of thetankQ from end to end, preferably projecting slightly'beyond the left-hand end wall 6 of thetank as seen in Figure v2f, andbeing arranged so as to extend throughthe left-hand orV rear wall oi'the incubator, as seen at 5". Such construction, asV seen at theleft-hand extremity of the pipe 5 forms a lsupport assisting to maintainthe heating apparatus in proper position on the incubator. evident, ofcourse, that the right-hand end of the pipe v5 is cut oil on aslantwhich corresponds With the. slant of the end wall 3 of the tank 2, andat the place where the said pipe is joined to the wall' 3 forming theopening 41. above mentioned.

In conjunction with the tank 2` I employ circulating pipes for the waterwhich is contained in the tank, and a peculiar arrangement oi' saidpipes has been devised by me.` The water circulating pipes are.

- designated at `'l' and are o'simil'ar form, be-

lals

ing located at opposite sides of the tank 2.

These .pipes 7 may be said to have a U shape,

as the ends of' the. main length of the pipe are turnedy at right anglesthereto and joined with the tank at the points 8'. It is. notable,however,A that the end Za of each circulating ypipe T, which end isnearer to the, lamp or heating device C, is joined with the tank. 2,near the bottom of said tank,

whilel the other end 7b of' each pipe. Z is joined; to the tank near thetop of the latten-or as. seen `best in Figure l ofthe drawmds.

rlilxtending over and to a certain extent housing the projecting portion2a of' the tank 2 is a box or heating chamber 9- This heating vchamberis: formed'with. flanges. lOf which are. directly attached to theadjacent side of the inuhator to support. the box or heating chamber inproper position on'the incubator The sides of the box or chamber 9project some distancebelow the outer end wall l1 of the chamber and thelamp. C is so disposed that its chimney projects upwardly between thesides of the chamber or box to a point a short distance below theslanting end wall 3 of the tank, and correspondingly below the opening4,A in fact, the center of the chimney of the lamp will preferably beapproxinfiately beneath the center of the opening 4,, The said outer endwall 11 ofthe bon` 9 is. provided with one or more warm `air outletopenings 12, I illustrate two of such openings by way of preference.

In the space between the wall rl1 of the box 9 and the slanting endwall3 of the tank 2 I mount a valve or damper 13, movable toward andfromeach of said walls and adapted, when disposed against the wall 11,

to close the openings 12 of the latter.` The damper 13 is mounted upon adamper shaft 14:, equipped with a rocker arm 15 projecting outwardlytherefrom and a small counterbalance weight 16 projecting inwardlytherefrom. rod 17 connects the arm-15 by means of an adjustable nut 18,or like It isy lever 19'. The lever I9 is pivoted at 20 to a bracket 2lin the incubator chamber, and a common form of thermostat-22 is. mountedto operate the lever 19 and correspondingly move the damper 13.

With the construction of my invention as set forth above, the operationof the same under 'actual conditions is as follows:

As the heat from the lamp C passes from its chimney it enters the pipeorA flue 5, and by heating said pipe heats: the water in the tank 2.From the pipe 5 the Warm air passes out through the left-hand end 5* ofsaid pipe and the rear wall of the incubator. As the water in the tank 2becomes heated the heaty is-rad'iated from the wall' of said' tank andfrom the pipes 7 connectedv therewith and warmsl the incubator chamberin the well' known manner., The uniformity of thetemperature in theincubator chamber is maintained by the thermostat 22 controlling thedamper 13 If' the temperature rises above a certain degree thethermostat 9,2 pulls downwardly on the rod 17v and rocks the damper 13outwards todeflect the currents. of heated air rising' from thechimneyof the lamp C to cause said currents to pass out, of the chamber or box9 through the openings 12, instead of passing upwards and.y out throughthe pipe '5L In other words, the above action is to more or less openthe openings 12 to the deflected currents of heated air,` and`vcorrespondingly more or less close the opening 4 through which thecurrents are supp-lied' to the pipe 5, and obviously throughthearrangement of the valve or damper 13 a very sensitive control of theheated air currents is obtainede In accordance with the wellknownvprinciple that the warm water in the tank 2 will be nearer to thetop of the tank than the bottom,` I connect the ends 7l" of thecirculating pipes. near the rear wall of the incubator with the topportions of the tank, whereas. the ends 7a connect with the lowerportions of the tank. Under these conditions obviously the water iscaused to circulate from the tank through the pipes by entering the endsTb of' the pipes 7 first, and passing back to the tank near the lowerportion or bottom of the latter where the wat-er is, coolest. j t

The above arrangement is desirable, because obviously the end portion ofthe pipe 5' nearer to the heater C is warmen than the opposite endport-ion, and the ends 7" of the pipes T will ordinarilybe slightlywarmer than the Vends 7a, so that the heating effects of these parts aresomewhat equalized, and

this promotes the establishment of anni-` that I use in my incubatorheat-ing appaj ratus metal parts which are standard shapes very largely,that is to say I use pipe lengths that are simply constructed, ratherthan special formations o-r special metals. In this way I simplifymaterially and cheapen very considerably the production cost of myincubator heating means. Even the valve or damper 13 is a simplerectangular piece of sheet met-al, very easily constructed.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is,

l. In heating apparatus for incubatore, in combination, an incubatingchamber, a water tank extending across said chamber, water circulatingpipes connected with said tank, one end of the tank projecting through awallof the incubating chamber and extendinga considerable distancebeyond said wall, a box-like compartment enclosing said projecting endport-ion of the tank and having air outlet openings, a warm air pipedisposed within the said tank, the tank comprising end walls throughwhich said warm air pipe extends, the end wall of the projecting endportion of the tank be* ing spaced from the outer end of saidcompartment, a warm air supply means disposed beneath said lastmentioned end wall and compartment to Supply air to the end of the warmair pipe which leads through said end wall, and a valve movable in saidcompartment between the end of the air pipe and the outlet openings toopen or close either of them substantially as described.

2. In heating apparatus for incubators, in combination, an incubatingchamber, a

water tank extending across said chamberV and having one end projectingexternally of the chamber and formed with an end wall,

said end wall being provided with an open-v ing, a warm air pipe leadingfrom said opening through the water tank, a warm an' supply meanslocated beneath said opening, a warm air compartment communicating withsaid warm air supply means and with said opening and a valve pivotednear the end wall and adapted to move against and away from said wallfor controlling the amount of warm air supplied to said opening, saidend wall being disposed in a slanting position so as to.facil'itate theentrance of warm air to said opening.

3. In heating apparatus 'for incubators, in combination, an incubatingchamber, a water tank extending across said chamber and projectingthrough one wall thereof so as to extend some distance from said wall, ahot air pipe passing through said water tank, a box at the projectingend portion of the water tank into which the air pipe opens and forminga warm air chamber adapted to receive warm air from a source of supplyand deliver it to the air pipe, said box having air out-flow openings,and a damper mounted to control the amount of warm air passing from thesaid warm air chamber to the said pipe, or passing from said chamberthrough the said openings, and movable between said outflow openings andair pipe to close either of them.

4. In a heating apparatus for incubators, in combination, an incubatingchamber, a water tank extending across said chamber and projectingthrough one wall thereof, a Warm air compartment at the projecting endof the said water tank, said water tank having a downwardly and inwardlyslanting end wall within the warm air compartment and formed with anopening therethrough, a warm air pipe leading from said opening in theend wall through the water tank, and a damper movable toward and lfromsaid opening in the end wall to cut ofi' to a greater or less extent theflow of warm air from the warm air compartment through said pipe.

5. In a heating apparatus for incubators, in combination, an incubatingchamber, a water tank extending across said chamber and projectingthrough one wall thereof, a warm air compartment at the projecting endof the said water tank, said water tank having a downwardlyand inwardlyslanting end wall within the warm air compartment and formed with anopening therethrough,

a warm air pipe leading from said opening i in the end wall through thewater tank, and a damper movable toward and from said opening in the endwall to cut off to a greater or less extent the flow of warm air fromthe warm air compartment through said pipe, the warm air compartmentembodying also an end wall on the side of the damper opposite the endwall of the water tank, and provided with openings `for out-How of warmair from the warm air compartment, the said damper being adapted toclose said last mentioned openings to a greater or less extent as wellas to close the opening leading to the warm air pipe to a greater orless extent.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

